The Receiver

"Enough, stop arguing!"

"Li Mingchuan, how is the composite-image analysis going? Any leads?"

Seeing the hostility between Moros and Ellie intensify, Ouyang Hao hurriedly interrupted them.

Things were chaotic enough already. If his team members could not work together, there would be no way to lead this team.

"Captain, the seventeen surviving Armored Warrior trainees provided ten fragments for the Mutant Beast composite."

"Most of them depict scales and fur, with no distinctive organs."

"Based on those scales and fur, we narrowed it down to thirty-five types of Mutant Beast."

"But Xin Ya collected another fragment."

"It depicts two rather distinctive mechanical antennas. They don't seem to have formed naturally."

"If we include that fragment, none of the thirty-five types we identified fit."

Li Mingchuan gave a detailed report on his progress. As he spoke, everyone present turned to look at Xin Ya.

No one had expected this newcomer to quietly turn up something like this.

"Captain, I did submit a new fragment yesterday."

"It came from a memory fragment I obtained while questioning a survivor named Lu Zhan."

"I can confirm that the memory fragment wasn't fabricated."

Suddenly becoming the focus of the meeting, Xin Ya felt an inexplicable surge of excitement.

She was finally no longer the team's invisible nobody.

Brimming with excitement, Xin Ya took out Lu Zhan's original drawing and displayed it to everyone.

"Tsk, tsk. This artwork really is abstract."

"Fortunately, the antennas are drawn well, with plenty of detail."

"But could something so obviously artificial really be an organ of a Mutant Beast?"

"Xin Ya, I'm not questioning your ability, but could an ordinary person really recall details of a Mutant Beast?"

"You should know that even Armored Warrior trainees find that very difficult."

The drawing passed through the hands of Ouyang Hao and the others, and all four gave Lu Zhan's artistic skills poor marks.

But they doubted Lu Zhan's abilities even more.

"Captain, there's something I haven't had a chance to report yet."

"Lu Zhan has the aptitude to become an Armored Warrior. I detected it during his final screening."

"I investigated his past in detail. There's absolutely no way he could have come into contact with an alchemical creation like this."

To dispel the doubts of Ouyang Hao and the others, Xin Ya took out Lu Zhan's file.

After reviewing all of Lu Zhan's information, Ouyang Hao and the others fell silent.

There was nothing logically wrong with Xin Ya's assessment.

Those two mechanical antennas were very likely connected to the Mutant Beast.

"Captain, those two mechanical antennas are clearly artificial."

"That means my assessment of the culprit's identity was entirely correct. He's human."

"The survivors' memory loss must also have been deliberate, caused by some method the killer used."

"By contrast, if a Mutant Beast had committed the attack, it wouldn't have deliberately concealed itself."

Having confirmed that the mechanical antennas were genuine, Moros felt he had found "evidence" supporting his position.

Although it was strange for the killer to have carried two antennas during the attack, perhaps they were part of some kind of detection device!

"Moros, how do you explain the scales and fur?"

"Humans can't grow Mutant Beast tissue!"

Ellie still held to her position. She firmly believed that people's perceptions were correct.

Since so many people believed the culprit was a Mutant Beast, they could not possibly be wrong.

"Ellie, those scales and fur might have been a disguise, meant to mislead us."

"Even the survivors might have been deliberately left alive by the killer."

"That makes it even clearer that the attacker was human!"

The more Moros analyzed it, the more convinced he became that this was the truth. Even Ouyang Hao and the others began leaning toward his view.

"Everyone, you all know the impact of this case. We're under tremendous pressure."

"Since investigating Mutant Beasts hasn't gotten us anywhere, let's try another direction."

"For now, let's treat the culprit as human and start the investigation afresh."

"These two mechanical antennas might just be our breakthrough!"

At that critical moment, Ouyang Hao gritted his teeth and made his decision.

They could not get stuck in a rut when investigating a case. They had to be flexible.

"Captain, I've found something about those two mechanical antennas."

"When I first saw them, they looked familiar."

"After a detailed investigation, I finally identified them."

"Those two mechanical antennas are part of a [Wide-Area Information Receiver]."

"As far as I know, this special alchemical creation can only be manufactured in the inner city, and its numbers are extremely limited."

Seeing her "work" receive attention, Xin Ya, eager to earn credit, dropped another bombshell.

The entire meeting immediately fell silent, and that silence lasted a very long time.

"Captain, are we still going to change the direction of our investigation?"

"Why don't we keep pursuing the Mutant Beast lead thoroughly?"

"As for these two mechanical antennas, let's just pretend we never found them."

After a long silence, Moros, who had consistently insisted the culprit was human, actually contradicted his own position.

Looking at Xin Ya's shocked expression, Moros sighed.

Newcomers were ignorant, fearless, and hungry for glory. They had no idea how dangerous an investigation could be.

Their Special Task Force could get away with investigating Mutant Beasts.

But once the inner city became involved, they might die without even knowing how it had happened.

"Xin Ya, is Lu Zhan still at the Ninth Medical Security Center?"

"If he is, have him detained immediately."

"If he's already been discharged, find a way to contact the Wutu Gang and silence him for good."

Liu Yiyang

gave Xin Ya a cold look and proposed another way to handle the matter.

This stupid woman. She's going to get us killed this time.

"You..."

"How could you..."

The sudden reversal left Xin Ya completely stunned.

Liu Yiyang's proposal was even more impossible for her to accept.

Yet under the "resolute" gazes of the other four, Xin Ya yielded.

However unwilling she was, Xin Ya had no choice but to start making calls.

Perhaps luck had stopped favoring her this time. The telephone line, which usually malfunctioned, was unexpectedly clear.

Xin Ya soon reached the Ninth Medical Security Center and learned that Lu Zhan had already been discharged some time ago.

She was also told that the 13th Recruitment Office had just accessed Lu Zhan's medical examination records.

"It's too late!"

"After being discharged, Lu Zhan went straight to the Recruitment Office in District 13. He should have finished signing up by now!"

Xin Ya looked at the other four with a complicated expression. The military was not something they could interfere with.

"There should still be time!"

"Even if he's finished signing up, he won't enter the Training Center for another seven days."

"A week is enough for us to find a way to keep Lu Zhan quiet!"

Ouyang Hao was quite familiar with the recruitment process. As soon as he spoke, the eyes of Moros and the other two lit up.

Wonderful. There was still room to salvage the situation.

Fortunately, they had acted decisively. Otherwise, this really would have been difficult to resolve.